The present invention relates to three-dimensional toys, and more particularly to three-dimensional toys that form a so-called doll house and accessories for furnishing the doll house.
It has long been common practice to provide miniature toy houses having internal partitions or walls dividing the interiors of the houses into a plurality of miniature rooms having floors, ceilings and upright walls, often with simulated windows, fixtures and other features of real homes, and with one entire side of the house being open to give the child access to the rooms for play purposes. Also commonly provided are miniature toy furnishings such as chairs, couches, beds, rugs, pictures and the like, which the child can place in the house and arrange in the rooms in positions that simulate realistic arrangements in full-sized houses. In addition, it has been known to provide dolls in the form of miniature people, and even cats, dogs and other domestic animals, to complete the interior of the toy house as if it were a real house occupied by a real family and all of their belongings.
The present invention provides a novel miniature house toy in which a plurality of flat-sided, box-like modules are shaped and sized to be stacked to simulate rooms in the structure of a toy house and have open sides that are arranged to form an open side of the toy house. The modules are made up of stiff, flat substrate panels that are shaped and joined together to form the walls, ceilings and floors of rooms of the house and have coverings of felt on their interior and exterior surfaces that not only decorate the modules but also serve to position the stacked modules relative to each other and to position felt-surfaced furnishing accessories and one or more felt-surfaced dolls in the house.
In the preferred embodiment of the invention shown herein, the modules are covered internally in multi-colored felt simulating the interior decoration of rooms, and externally in brightly colored felt giving the house toy an interesting and attractive appearance. The furnishing accessories and dolls are primarily composed of or covered with felt for a similarly colorful and attractive appearance and to provide felt surfaces for adhering to the felt of the modules to position the accessories and dolls in the modules.
The modules are constructed ruggedly and relatively inexpensively of stiff substrate panels such as particle board or plywood, adhesively secured together at the corners of the modules, and preferably are encased entirely in felt sheet material that is cut to match the size of the surfaces to be covered, adhesively secured to the panels for lasting tightness and durability, and suitably joined around the edges and corners, for example by sewing where two free edges meet and by an integral fold where two sheets of the same color meet.
In addition to conventional interior rooms having rectangular open sides for access, the invention provides a triangular attic room that can be the peak of a house, triangular deck rooms having more than one open side, and a xe2x80x9clawnxe2x80x9d piece for simulating the outside area of a house.
Furnishing accessories may take various forms, from simple felt cut-outs printed with decorations simulating pictures, windows, cabinets, appliances and carpets or rugs, to more complex forms such as felt-covered furniturexe2x80x94chairs, beds, stools, tablesxe2x80x94with internal stiffening that may be paper of cardboard, or a stiffer substrate. Similarly, the dolls, which preferably simulate an entire miniature family, have felt exterior coverings that are filled with stuffing material such as batting, and may have wire internal armatures providing a desirable amount of firm flexibility. The family can include pets, with appropriate pet furnishings as well, and felt furnishings also are provided for the lawn area.
The result is a novel and very attractive miniature house toy that uses felt coverings to produce attractive, colorful and durable room modules and accessories for the house and also utilizes the adhering qualities of the felt to position and maintain the components in selected positions. Accordingly, the novel house toy of the invention has a very high xe2x80x9cplayxe2x80x9d value.